Days 3, 4, 5 and 6

Ok, so I am a little behind!  I have to say Wednesday (3rd day), I was very home sick and frustrated with several things that I just couldn't get right in the gym.  Plus I was feeling really spent and sore.  They told us Wednesday is the worst day of the week and they were right!  I slept everytime we had a break!  But things are back on track now.  I feel great and am having the time of my life.  I want to thank everyone for all their words of support here on the blog, the emails, texts, etc.  I couldn't do it without you all!  So here's a look back at my 3rd day through today!

Day 3: Had the normal breakfast off the buffet.  Then headed to the gym for another alternating machine cardio workout with treadmill, bike, arc trainer and elliptical.  Then on to a Spinning Class on the bikes: HATED THAT!  It hurts!  Won't be doing that again!  I left in the middle and went to a rowing machine for the last 1/2 hour.  Next on the a class called Muscle Works: LOVE THAT!  It really works everything it feels like: use the step, the weights, the bar, you name it!  Then back to the hotel for lunch: tuna & grape wraps with greens, quinoa (love that) veggie salad and fruit.  It was good too.  We had a lecture on the Benefits of Moving Our Body after eating: being careful not to cut calories too low b/c you are starving your body, which slows your metabolism.  We need to move as much as possible and do lots of types of exercise like cardio, strength & endurance training, weights, etc. to see results.  Then we need protein and complex carbs to help repair your torn muscles from all that!  Then we headed back to the gym for another cardio/strength training workout, which was very hard for me: I can't seem to get the form on squats or lunges: frustrating!  Austan had me do squats onthe bench to get used to them.  I think I have it now!  Lunges are coming along...  Then we headed upstairs for a quick ab workout of torture!  Back at the hotel later, I had my first one-on-one with Eve.  We talked about reasons I thought I was here at this point, things that I have let get in my way in the past and how things are going with the program here.  It was good to talk all that out and plan for the future when I get home.  Bummer though: had always thought it took 1,000 calories to gain a pound or 1,000 burned calories to lose a pound.  NOT: it takes 3,500!  Booh Hiss!  Ole well, it will happen!  Then on to a Flexibility and Stretching class: felt great!  Dinner was the usual hotel buffet food.  Then off to the gym for a Zumba class!  Whew!  Hard to keep up, since it takes me a while to catch on to the moves and it goes soooo fast, but loved it!  Had a protein shake for snack: YUCK!  Everyone said to try the other kind.  I will be doing that, as this one was gross!  Did my journal entry and off to sleep!  Burned 4,919 calories today...

Day 4:  Woke up still feeling homesick, had a good cry, felt better and moved on!  Usual buffet breakfast, then off to the gym for cardio round, then Power Pump class and a Weight Training Circuit: hard but felft good afterwards!  Lunch was a ground turkey salad and a tempeh salad (which is a version of something like tofu, but much better), a cucumber salad and frui.  It was all yummy too!  Next we went on a trip to the Super Target that carries groceries to learn about looking at all the types of fat, how much to have of each, etc.  That was good to learn: can't cut out all fats, need certain unsaturated ones!  Next we went to the park for a strength training workout with bands, a park picnic table and boxing!  Loved that!  I skipped out on the foam roll class, since I was having some severe acid reflux!  Yuck!  Dinner was the usual off the buffet againm, then off to the gym for a Kickboxing class.  That was tons of fun too: again little hard to follow during last 1/2 with a lot of different moves, but fun!  Back to the hotel for an extra massage this week, since it's my first week, and had Sara, who was good too.  She worked mainly on my arms and legs and it felt great!  Burned 4,396 calories today...

Day 5: Feeling better today in general, but very sore.  Had the usual breakfast, then on to our weekly 5K (3.25 miles) that I power walked with Barbara.  The best part, which most of you will not find terribly surprising, since Dad says I could't find my way out of the driveway if I didn't know the way so well: we ended up going an exra 4 blocks, about 1 mile!  They came looking for us and everything, thinking we were lost!  Ole well, we did basically a 6K!  We went straight in to our little hotel gym for a Weight Lifting/Cardio Circuit Training session: TORTURE for real!  We used all kinds of things in a 10 station rotation: those big ropes like they use on Biggest Loser, Weights, Sit Ups, you name it!  We had an outdoor Healthy BBQ for our lunch today.  It was great: flank steak and chicken on the grill, fingerling potatoes in some type of light sauce, a salad with a corn dressing, and fruit.  Very good.  Then we went on another hike: this one was less shade, but not as steep.  Beautiful again!  It was about 4 miles long total!  My heart rate is getting better and didn't have to stop nearly as many times to keep it at 130 bpm this time.  Came back to the hotel and did laundry with Laila, Barbara and Rae.  They are great girls that came in the same time I did.  Laila is from New York (originally Kenya), Barbara is from Chicago and Rae is from NC originally but now lives in Maryland.  We had dinner on the patio while the laundry finished: chicken & veggie tamales, fruit, and black bean salad with onions & zucchini.  Yum!  We went for a dip in the hot tub, which was awesome and relaxing!  Burned 4,051 calories today...

Day 6: For the first time since I have been here, I woke up feeling like a normal person and with energy and minimal pain and soreness!  The energy level I was hoping for is finally kicking in!  Yipee!  Had our usual breakfast buffet then off to our workout in the park.  We walked about 4 miles, then came back to do a Pilates workout on the mats in the grass.  Loved that!  It's amazing how you can do weight training with no weights doing this style!  Then we came back for lunch, which was yummy: crockpot chicken made with onions, quinoa, squash, and no sodium chicken stock and 1/2 a peach.  Delicious!  We had a lecture after that on being careful not to reward yourself with food, not making excuses on exercise and nutrition and choosing good rewards like new wardrobes, massages, getting your hair done, pedicures & manicures, vacations, etc.  I could get into those kind of rewards!  Hee!  Next on to Water Aerobics in the pool with Serena and Austan.  Holy Cow!  I burned close to 600 calories doing that!  Who knew?  And since it's Saturday, the day is done at 2:30 for me!  Yeah!  The 4 of us are meeting for dinner at 5:30 on the patio, which is a turkey pita, veggies and fruit.  Then we are heading to Sports Authority on the hotel shuttle to pick up some knee bands to help with sore knees and I'm getting a hat to keep from burning my poor forehead anymore and hopefully my nose.  I am slathered with sunscreen when we work out outside of course, but with all the sweating, it doesn't stay on very well!  God knows I don't want anymore skin cancer scares!  It will be nice to be free tonight and we even get tomorrow off basically!  Regular clothes!  Whew Hoo!  Burned 2,300 calories today...